LIFE AT ELLEEAY. 97 



of dress, she informs her that " the jacket has been much admired ; 

 I wore it at a ball at Kendal, and there was only one like it in 

 the room — that was worn by Lady Lonsdale ; it will always remind 

 me of one of the pleasantest evenings I ever spent. I danced with 

 Mr. Wilson ; he is the only one of my partners worth mentioning." 



It is not very difficult to perceive why it was one of the " plea- 

 santest evenings" ever spent. 



A ball or party seldom took place at Ambleside or elsewhere in 

 the neighborhood, at which Mr. Wilson and Miss Jane Penny were 

 not present. De Quincey, speaking of the gayeties at Low Brathay, 

 the residence of his Mend Charles Lloyd, says that at one of the 

 social gatherings there he " saw Wilson in circumstances of ani- 

 mation, and buoyant with youthful spirits. . . . He, by the way, 

 was the best male dancer (not professional) I have ever seen. . . . 

 Here also danced the future Avife of Professor Wilson, Miss Jane 

 P[euny], at that time the leading belle of the Lake country." 

 They were, undoubtedly, a couple of very uncommon personal at- 

 tractions. A spectator at a ball given in Liverpool in those days, 

 relates that when Mr. Wilson entered the room with Miss Penny 

 on his arm, the dancers stopped and cheered them, in mere ad- 

 miration of their appearance. 



Another extract from a letter of Miss Penny gives some further 

 information about Mr. Wilson. There had been a regatta at Win- 

 dermere : — 



" It proved universally pleasant. I think I never enjoyed any 

 thing more than I did that week. The day of the regatta we spent 

 the morning at Mr. Bolton's, Storr's Hall, and sailed upon the lake 

 the greater part of the day. We had the honor of being steered 

 by a real midshipman, a strikingly fine young man of the name of 

 Fairer. Mr. Wilson gave us a ball at the Inn in the evening. I 

 had the honor of opening it with him, and of course I spent a 

 charmingly delightful evening. We are likely to have a most de- 

 lightful acquisition to our society this winter in Mrs. and Miss Wil- 

 son, mother and sister to our favorite. They are very nice people 

 indeed. I think Mrs. Wilson one of the finest and most ladylike 

 women I have seen for a long time. They mean to be at Elleray 

 all winter, which will make it very pleasant to us. I hope we shall 

 see a great deal of them. Mr. Wilson is flirting Avith a pretty little 

 widow who lives in Kendal. She is generally admired by the male 



